T + 0:18 mission time


    This reeks of a trap. This building is made from concrete. And consequently intact. Dalek #2 is floating around in it. I need to find a way to transmit images back without spending a lot of quintessence. Should I just install a video camera and WiFi?


    It reemerges.


    L: Did something just ignore your toy or is this hut empty?


    P: Then where the thing that entered go?


    L: You are a teleporter, aren’t you?


    P: But I do not enter a house to teleport.


    L: Could there be a teleportation device in it?


    P: Sure. But by that logic we would need to question whether the shed is real or an illusion device. Or, more mundane, there’s an armored wall inside the thing.


    I get Dalek #2 to take cover behind an almost totally collapsed house.


    L: You checked behind the shed?


    P: Yes


    L: Could somebody trick you into seeing a track of the wrong direction?


    P: Why? This is the best way to cause suspicion. If I saw just an outward track, I’d just assume that the older inbound track has faded. This tells me that this is a trap.


    L: You really have no drop of curiosity in your body?


    P: Curiosity killed the cat.


    L: You want to just move on.


    P: I want to. But I sense a mutiny coming.


    L: Mutiny? Who made you commander?


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    P: You agreed to avoid unnecessary risks. But anyway, I have another idea.


    L: We’ll need to talk about this.


    I use [Hyperkinetic Cannon]. The result makes me look like a man wearing half a tank on one shoulder.


    P: Be ready to attack without delay. If we are doing this, we will do it right.


    She hits the deck. I use [Cornucopia]. I store Dalek #2. Simply blowing away a building is nice, even if it is just a little shed.


    T+ 0:22 mission time


    We are running towards a smouldering ruin at a sprint.


    L: A ladder. A freaking ladder.


    P: Very well, let’s go dungeon delving.


    L: You want to?


    P: Whoever is down there is at least ratttled.


    T + 0:24 mission time


    We are about seven meters under ground in a straight corridor very dimly lit by little drops shimmering blue, oozing out of the walls. The boosts will soon run out. I go to hulk mode and conjure a long roll of tape, which I tie to the ladder.


    P: We’ll mark our path at regular intervals and at each branching nevertheless.


    L: They’ll soon put up a statue of the Greek God of Caution modelled after you, wearing belts, suspenders and a magical antigravity device for holding up pants.


    P: As the theme calls for a heavily armoured cod piece, I am all right with that.


    She laughs at that. Though now that I’ve mentioned it, I have used up my most potent healing potion. Maybe I do need to upgrade in that department. There are injuries you wouldn’t tell your kids about for lack of kids.


    There is a rustling sound. While I stare ahead, behind my back a growling howling thunder erases all possibilty of verbal communication. As the growling part of the sound stops, I turn around.


    Lisa is wearing a Terminator style gun on a sling. The barrels are still rotating. This is hot in a way not conducive to the orderly conduct of combat operations.


    L: Go and store it. We do not want rainbow smoke with this level of ventilation.


    I absolutely agree. She has the curtesy to dismiss her weapon as I walk past her. From close up the monster can still be vaguely identifiable.


    P: I think that was a giant scorpion.


    L: It just looked disgusting and threatening. Your boost allowed me to give it the big gun.


    It tucks on my mind. A scorpion in an underground tunnel reachable by a ladder …


    P: Pitfall! We have fallen into an intrusion shaped after an old video game.